Keyhole-stop



UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOI-IN MOULSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

KEYHOLE-STOP.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 211,616, dated September 28, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MoULsoN, of the consolidated city ofPhiladelphia and Sta-te of Pennsylvania, have invented a newKeyhole-Stop for the Prevention of Depredations on Door-Locks; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in the structure and combination oftwo or more metallic pieces intended, in conjunction, to fill a key holein a door, after the lock has been locked, which I therefore call a keyhole stop which must be used in conjunction with a padlock or itsequivalent for the purpose of preventing the introduction of anyunwelcome key or other instrument therein to unlock said door lock.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this my invention Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I construct two or more pieces of metal, the rst A, Figure l, a femaleor groove piece, consisting of a piece of sheet iron or other metal(preferably tapered a quarter of an inch on the long sides) about fourinches long, from a, to b Fig. 1, or to correspond with the thickness ofthe door and lock to be secured, formed with a channel or groove c, el,throughout its whole length which may be formed by doubling the metallengthwise in the middle, leaving a space of one-sixteenth of an inch ormore between the sides (when bent and closed) sufficient to receivefreely the male piece B Fig. 2 within the groove c cl, or it may be madeof cast metal of the same shape; the width of this piece A on its wideend a, is to be about three eighths of an inch, tapering down to onequarter of an inch at the narrow end b, on the bottom of which end b isto be made a lug e or projection downward and which may preferably beinserted in the groove immediately above it of an eight of an inch andas much in width and thickness to prevent the withdrawal of this piecefrom the lock, when the male piece B has been introduced into the groovec, d, the tapering of this piece A to nearly correspond with the depthof the lug e. Near the end a, is to be made an aperture j, through bothAsides about a quarter of an inch in diameter, or sufficiently large toadmit the introduction of the shank of a padlock through it whenadjusted in the key hole, and the piece B Fig. 2 introduced into thegroove o, d, so that both pieces will be held in place and be secured bythe padlock.

The male piece B Fig. 2 consists of a flat plate or piece of metalpreferably one-eighth of an inch longer from 0 to d than the piece AFig. l and of about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness or enough tonearly ill the groove c, d, Fig. l, and of equal Width at the ends g andh., but about the eighth of an inch wider from z' to c, than the widestpart c to g of the grooved piece A when placed therein, and ispreferably provided with a lug Z or projection on the lower side at theend g of one-eighth of an inch deep and as wide, intended for a stopwhen sliding this piece into the groove c, d. There is also near thesame end g an aperture f to be made to correspond in position with theapertures f, Fig. l so as to receive the shank of a padlock which beingintroduced when these two pieces A and B are placed in the key hole, rstthe piece A with the lug end I) foremost, and then the piece B with theplain end foremost, placed within the groove c, d, and passed in untilthe lug, e, drops down below the bottom of the key hole and all theapertures f f correspond, so that the shank of a padlock or itsequivalent can be passed through all the apertures f f holding, with thelug, both pieces in place, preventing the introduction of any instrumentto unlock the door lock or the withdrawal of this stop on account of thelug, e, until the removal of the shank of the padlock and the withdrawalof this key hole stop.

In order to adapt this mechanism to a variety of sized key holes, themale pieces B must be of suflicient widths and thickness, in combinationwith the female piece A to fill the key hole of whatever size or depth;and it is intended to provide several male pieces B with each femalepiece A the length of both and all the pieces to suit the depth of thehey hole or thickness of the lock and door to be secured.

The sizes and dimensions here given are not arbitrary, but may be variedto suit the size and depth of any key hole.

That I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isThe construction of a key hole stop consisting of tw'o pieces of metal,one to slide into the other, which When introduced into locks bypreventing the introduction of any a key hole, first the female and thenthe unwelcome key or other instrument therein.

male piece in conjunction with a ring on one piece, and a padlock or itsequivalent JOHN MOULSON 5 through both pieces, all combined as de-Witnesses:

scribed, or their equivalents, Will fdl the key VILLIAM SNIDER, Q holeand eifectually prevent depredations on Z. SNIDER.

